BACK TO THE ROOTS (OFFICIAL BOOTLEG)

This is an excellent addition to the Solaris discography. I only give it 3 stars though as the sound is often little better than bootleg quality. It also contains a few poor but definately live and unedited passages of playing. Nonetheless, all the trade marks that make Solaris music great are contained within it. The highlight is the Solaris suite at 13 minutes .This earlier version of Solaris has much less emphasis on the keyboards of Robert Erdesz and in this live performance the guitar and flute interplay are often dominant. Looking forward to the forthcoming archive release of NOAB by this great band.

In order to celebrate their 20th anniversary Solaris decided to release material from the period between 1980-2000, this CD is the first in a serie of releases. The sound is decent and it's exciting to notice how quick Solaris changed from a band that was looking for a direction into a dynamic and spectacular group.

The first composition "Revival" has an unpolished sound featuring lots of flute and raw guitar work and hardly keyboards. The final part contains a great build-up with sensational play on flute and guitar, the climate has a Morish undertone. The second track "Counterpoint" is the original version from their first single, it's typical Solaris: a swirling progressive mix of jazz, classic and rock. Then the "Solaris suite" (almost 20 minutes) that is loaded with strong breaks and soli, the keyboards are more present. Next is the previously unreleased "Distant fire", is has fine work on flute and guitar but this early composition sounds a bit unmature, the band is still searching for their formula. The final track is the exciting, very propulsive "Undefeatable" in a 10 minute version featuring sensational interplay between guitar, flute and keyboards and amazing soli, this is Solaris their trademark, SPLENDID!

This CD is a good addition to their previous albums but you have to look at it as a bonus for the fans.